We are underway in Gainesville as the Gators look to reverse their fortunes in midweek action on Tuesday against the North Florida Ospreys.
The Gators lead the Ospreys, 4-0, heading into the bottom of the third.
Tommy Groom had trouble with command in the first for the Ospreys. He gave up a leadoff double and then gave up three free passes — walk, hit batter, walk — to give Florida an early lead. North Florida turned to Jeremiah Stewart on the mound, but Caden McDonald and Cade Kurland drove in runs against him.
Brendan Lawson is back in the lineup for Florida after taking a ball to the wrist on Sunday. The injury looked bad initially, but him playing is a good sign. The Gators dodged a bullet by not losing their star shortstop. Caden McDonald continues to be the everyday designated hitter after his breakout series against Texas A&M.
Follow along for live updates, starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Two-out drama for Walls in the third
Walls was cruising in the third, striking out Jackson Schrafft and Drew Buchanan on changeups. He got a soft hit to the first-base side of the mound but went for the ball instead of covering the base, which led to a base hit for Collins. Farner walked after Walls got ahead of him 1-2. Both runners took second without much contest. Fortunately, Gomez popped up to short to get Walls out of the third. (E2: Florida 4, UNF 0)
Noting doing for Florida in second
Stewart fared much better starting an inning off clean. He went 1-2-3 in the second, retiring the top three batters in Florida’s lineup in order. Jones grounded out to third, Lawson flied out to left field and Cyr grounded out to short. all of them were routine plays. (E2: Florida 4, UNF 0)
Walls gets short inning thanks to double play
Walls only needed seven pitches to get through the second inning, despite giving up a one-out single to White. Jackson Toberman and Sean Benjain both hit ground balls to shortstop, the latter resulting in a 6-4-3 double play ato end the inning. (M2: Florida 4, UNF 0)
Gators bat around in first
Kyle Jones got the Gators going on offense right away with a leadoff double. He took a different approach, swinging at the first pitch. Even though Jones didn’t make contact until later in the at-bat, a more aggressive approach is worth monitoring for Florida’s lead-off man.
Brendan Lawson walked, and Blake Cyr got plunked on the elbow to load the bases. Ospreys starter Tommy Groom had trouble finding his command and walked in Ethan Surowiec. Groom got the hook after that, leaving the game responsible for all three runners on base and without recording an out.
Caden McDonald got to Jermiah Stewart right away, singling up the middle for a pair of runs. That’s McDonald’s first hit in three tries with the bases loaded this season.
Landon Stripling grounded into a double play, giving UNF a chance to escape with a 3-0 deficit, but Cade Kurland made sure the inning continued with an RBI single through the right side.
Cole Stanford reached on an error by North Florida’s shortstop, but the defense bailed Stewart out with a home run robbery. Carter White took away a three-run homer from Hayden Yost and ended the inning. (E1: Florida 4, UNF 0)
Walls starts the game with a zero
Cooper Walls had a pretty easy first. He was going right at batters and got Mitchell Collins to ground to first, and Mathew Farner to chop one to the right side of second base for two quick outs. Gaildri Gomez singled through the right side, but he never made it to second as Boone Hosey grounded out to short. (M1: Florida 0, UNF 0)
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Florida vs. UNF starting pitchers, lineups
Florida Gators starting lineup
North Florida Ospreys starting lineup
What time is Florida vs. UNF?
What channel is Florida vs. UNF?
The Florida vs. North Florida game starts at 6:30 p.m. ET from Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Live updates, highlights from Florida baseball vs UNF Ospreys
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
